Steps are being taken to bring additional medical oxygen supply from foreign countries such as Singapore, Dubai and other States such as Delhi and Odisha to address the issue of oxygen shortage in Madurai district, said Finance Minister P.T.R.P. Thiagarajan, here on Friday.
He was addressing mediapersons, along with Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration P. Moorthy, after inaugurating the Siddha COVID Care Centre at Yadava College in Thiruppalai.
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He said that a technical glitch at the Sterlite Copper unit at Thoothukudi caused a temporary pause in production. "But, once the oxygen supply from the unit reaches hospitals in Madurai, it will help to resolve the issue of oxygen shortage," Mr. Thiagarajan said. He said that a separate war room was set up in Chennai to monitor oxygen usage throughout the state.
Apart from oxygen shortage, the lack of sufficient doctors and nurses was another issue. So, retired doctors, final year students and those who have studied medicine abroad but have not written an equivalent exam here, will all be temporarily called for COVID-19 duty.
Steps were taken to ensure that oxygen support, ventilators, testing kits, anti-viral injections and other tablets are available to meet the growing demand.
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He urged the public to strictly follow COVID-19 safety precautions and avoid travelling outside unnecessarily to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Mr. Moorthy said that the government was taking steps to contain the spread of COVID-19 across the state.
District COVID-19 Monitoring Officer B. Chandra Mohan, District Collector T. Anbalagan and Madurai Corporation Commissioner S. Visakan were also present.
The Ministers also inspected the war room functioning at the Collectorate where 15 nurses would provide medical consultations through telephone to COVID-19 patients under home isolation.